The Best Business Intelligence Jobs for Data Scientists
Business intelligence (BI) and data science are truly fields for the modern world. Business intelligence analysts take advantage of the explosion of digital data over the last decade to help businesses become more efficient and develop thoughtful strategies. Competitive businesses collect reams of data, which professionals in data science and business intelligence use to analyze past business decisions, understand current trends, and predict future performance.
With so much insight to be gained, these fields are full of opportunity for job-seekers. There are a variety of great business intelligence jobs open to data scientists.
What is business intelligence?
Business intelligence involves using data to garner insights that can help businesses make strategic decisions and drive up business value. The field combines business analytics, data mining, data visualization, data tools, and infrastructure in such a way that a business can get a thorough and strategically helpful view of its data.
As such, business intelligence isn’t a specific role or task as much as it is a collection of approaches, tools, procedures, and methods for collecting, organizing, and analyzing data derived from business operations in order to improve efficiency and decision-making.
BI software is at the core of the field, and these digital tools allow mining and analysis of complex data. BI analysis can leverage data to compare their business to competitors, identify industry trends, and create visualizations to communicate company information.
Is business intelligence a good growth sector for your career?
As digital commerce becomes more popular and marketing moves increasingly online, the amount of data that companies collect and utilize is growing exponentially. As such, many businesses now need a business intelligence professional to help them collect, manage, and analyze all this data.
The fast growth in the field makes for good job security. According to Zion Research, the global BI market is growing quickly-it will have increased 8.4 percent between 2015 and 2021. In 2015, the sector accounted for $16.33 billion in revenue and it is expected to reach $26.50 billion in revenue by 2021.
A BI career fuses technology and business, and can therefore represent an appealing career option for those who want to combine technical challenge with strategic business thinking. The jobs in this area focus on data analysis and modeling design, requiring hard skills such as programming, data modeling, and statistics, as well as “softer” skills like analytical thinking and problem-solving.
How to become a data scientist
A bachelor’s degree is required to pursue a career path as a data scientist and work in business intelligence. Related majors include computer science, business, mathematics, economics, statistics, management, and accounting. You may be able to acquire an entry-level role in some places if your bachelor’s degree is focused on another unrelated subject. To get higher-level jobs in data science may require an MBA, though it is also common to move up the ranks within an organization.
Regardless of your credentials, it is a good idea to acquire specific skills related to these roles, such as programming languages, database architecture, and SQL/MySQL. Since the field is evolving quickly and constantly, you’ll want to stay current on the latest developments and continue to learn to stay competitive.
What are good business intelligence jobs?
Business intelligence jobs represent a fast-growing segment within the data science field. These positions often come with excellent salaries and involve challenging and satisfying work. Two particularly common and sought-after job titles are data engineer and business intelligence engineer.
Data engineer
A data engineer provides data solutions that cover a company’s complete data processing pipeline. Those in this role may be in charge of specialized data platforms and manage a variety of data types, such as real-time streaming and machine data. Salaries for this role often range from $100,000 to $150,000.
Business intelligence engineer
A business intelligence engineer is responsible for uncovering strategic insights within a company’s data in order to drive continuous improvement in business decision-making. This includes maintaining ongoing metrics, reports, and dashboards that can enable data analysis and communication of that analysis. The salary for this role ranges from around $62,000 to $108,000.
Beyond data engineer and business intelligence engineer, there are a slew of other options that data scientists can strive for. Here’s a list of 25 of leading data science and business intelligence related job titles to look into during your job search.
- Data scientist
- Data engineer
- Data architect
- Data analyst
- Data services developer
- Data integration specialist
- Business intelligence consultant
- Business intelligence manager
- Business intelligence developer
- Business intelligence director
- Business intelligence architect
- Business intelligence analyst
- Senior business intelligence analyst
- Business analyst
- Business process analyst
- Performance analyst
- Research engineer
- Chief analytics officer
- Head of Analytics
- Director of analytics
- Director of risk analytics and policy
- Director of web analytics and optimization
- Director of business intelligence and analytics
- Director of health analytics
- Director of reporting
Training online for business intelligence jobs
While a wide variety of great on-campus programs exist for getting a graduate education in data science, many professionals opt to pursue their advanced degree in this field remotely. In a field focused on digital data, taking a class in a digital environment seems to be a natural fit. Students are able to get the latest training in data science and business intelligence via online programs from dynamic and qualified professors.
One of the biggest advantages of getting an online data science degree is this option’s flexibility. You can pursue your master’s degree in data science from home while continuing your current job. This makes these programs particularly accessible to nontraditional students who have family and career obligations.
The Online Master of Science in Data Science at the University of Virginia School of Data Science provides a cutting-edge curriculum in data science and analytics that students learn through collaboration and inquiry. Students in the program combine technical, quantitative, and philosophical study to better understand the complexities of leveraging data for organizational success. Graduates are able to use their business intelligence skills in a wide range of fields, including medicine, engineering, technology, and public policy.